The New York Filming Locations of The Godfather, Then and Now

On March 29, 1971, The Godfather, considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made,began principal photography in New York City.

Because the film is a period piece, The Godfather actually presents a fascinating record of what 1940s-era New York City locations still existed in the early-1970s. Sadly, many of them are now gone. What still remains? Let’s take a closer look.

The Godfather opens at the wedding of Don Corleone’s only daughter Connie.

This is the Corleone residence today, located at 110 Longfellow Avenue in Staten Island.

The house today is pretty much the same as it appears in the film, except for one detail…

What happened to all the stone walls and the entrance gate?

These were all fake, set up at the end of Longfellow Avenue to give the Corleone residence the feeling of a walled compound. This is what the same angle looks like today:

Another shot from later in the film offers a better look at the layout:

Still later, when Kay arrives at the house, we see a different angle including the guard booth.

In reality, there are actually several houses at the end of the block that were cut off by the fake wall:

As the wedding progresses, detectives show up to take license plate numbers. Our point of view here is toward toward the house…

The wedding sequence was staged on the house’s palatial lawn, which I imagine was a major factor for why it was chosen:

After a quick jaunt to California involving a movie producer and a horse (to be covered someday by sister site Scouting LA), we return to New York and get our first look at Corleone’s business front, Genco Olive Oil, just as Sollozzo arrives for a sit-down.

This was filmed in what was once the heart of Little Italy at 128 Mott Street, known as The Mietz Building.

Built in 1892, the sprawling Mietz & Weiss Oil Engine Building has a wonderful ever-so-slight curve that follows the path of Mott Street:

While the Renaissance Revival building is overall in good shape, some changes have been made over the years, including the removal of fire escapes…

…and most egregiously, the complete gutting of the ground floor facade. I have no idea how this was allowed to happen, but it’s pretty awful.

The interior of Genco Oil was reportedly built on the fourth floor of a warehouse nearby to 128 Mott Street (but not actually in the Mietz building).

We then join Michael Corleone and his girlfriend Kay Adams as they Christmas shop at the Best & Co. Department Store on Fifth Avenue at 51st Street.

After the Best & Co. chain went out of business in the mid-1970s, the building was torn down to make way for the 51-story Olympic Tower currently at the site. Note St. Patrick’s and Saks a block further in both pictures.

Uneasy with the possible introduction of drugs into his business world, Don Corleone sends Luca Brasi to meet with Sollozzo and pledge his loyalty in order to spy on him. Brasi heads down a hotel hallway…

…shot in the rear entrance to the Hotel Edison on West 46th Street btw. 7th & 8th.

Brasi is then murdered by Sollozzo in an upscale restaurant…but where was this shot? There has been a lot of debate over this. Many argue that it was simply done in the Edison’s bar, and logistically it would make sense – except that nothing at the Edison ever looked like this.

In fact, this pivotal scene was actually filmed in the Hotel St. George in Brooklyn.

The tip comes from a 72-year-old Brooklyn Heights barber named Rocco Scali, who recalls cutting actor Lenny Montana’s hair just before the scene was filmed in the hotel’s lobby bar, according to this NY Times article.

What is unbelievable is that I cannot find a single damn picture of the establishment. In fact, about the only pictures you can find of the Hotel St. George, once the largest hotel in New York City, are postcard images taken in the 1930s and 40s. The St. George used to be teeming with theme venues (The Stardust Room, The Bermuda Terrace), but who knows what was still around in 1971 when The Godfather was shot? If anyone has any leads, or has any memories of the space, please let me know!

Carrying on, Tom Hagen is then abducted by Sollozzo as he exits Polk’s Hobby Shop at 314 Fifth Avenue.

Fondly remembered as one of New York’s best hobby shops, Polk’s went out of business over 20 years ago, and is today Empire Pizza.

Back in Little Italy, Don Corleone steps out of the Genco offices and crosses the street toward 135-137 Mott Street.

He stops to buy fruit from the vendor at 137 Mott Street (note the Jake “Raging Bull” La Motta poster in the window):

Today, a Chinese pharmacy:

Just then, two assassins spring out and begin shooting, gunning down Corleone in front of the entrance to Genco at 128 Mott:

Later that night, we find Michael and Kay coming out of a show at Radio City Music Hall:

They exit the side entrance on West 50th Street…

Then, Kay notices a headline on the newsstand announcing the Corleone shooting:

The two run across the street…

…to a telephone booth, where Michael calls home.

Meanwhile, Tom has been taken to an abandoned diner.

I really wish I knew where this was, but it seems that any record of it is long gone. Anyone have any ideas? Not sure if the interior was actually abandoned, or if this was built on a stage:

In retaliation, Sonny orders Clemenza to kill Paulie Gatto, who helped set up the attempt on his father’s life. We see Clemenza leaving his house…

…and here it is today, located at 1999 East 5th Street on the edge of the Gravesend section in Brooklyn.

Other than a few hints about the neighborhood, I couldn’t find any information anywhere on the address, and I almost gave up looking. Finally, I just knocked on a neighbor’s door – and she pointed me right up the block!

We later get another shot of the house as Clemenza leaves to assist in the round of assassinations at the end of the film.

113 comments

I waas glad to see your postcard pic of hte old St.George Hotel. Years back when I was a scout in troop 236 we would grab the Schenck bus on Hillside Ave. in to 179th St, and take the subway to the Brooklyn Borough Hall stop, walk a few blocks and go swimming at the hotel pool. It was quite spectacular.

The Luna restaurant you refer to was at 112 Mulberry Street. I ate there many times as a kid. Some of the deleted scenes from the movie you can see on the DVD show the exterior clearly. This was the place was where Peter Clemenza had lunch. It was also the place where Clemenza bought the cannoli that was in his famous line of Leave the gun, take the cannoli.

As always, a fantastic post. The empty diner made me think of the cover for Hall & Oates album “Abandoned Luncheonette”. Wikipedia had this to say,

The diner on the album cover was formerly the Rosedale Diner, located in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. When it went out of business, its structure was dumped in a small wooded area located along Route 724 in Kenilworth, PA, at the entrance of Towpath Park in East Coventry Township, where the photo on the linked page was taken. Stripped by souvenir-hunters, the structure remained in place until about 1983, when Ridge Fire Company, along with the owner, burned what was left to clear the land.

Regarding the St George – there used to be a bar on the ground floor called Club Wild Fyre, and that was where the Luca Brasi scene was filmed. The bar was closed in the early ’90s after a cop shot someone in there. The closest you can get now is if you go to the entrance of the 2/3 train and turn around, you’ll see a set of doors that was the entrance, now chained shut. Apparently they used to call the room where they filmed that scene the Luca Brasi Room.

This is the best review of Godfather locations that I’ve ever seen. Two items I’d like to add. That barbershop photo has a logo on the glass which looks a lot like the logo of the St Regis Hotel in midtown (someone above already mentioned that). Regarding Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, I used to work right across the street from the new hospital location while it was being built. It was finishing up when I quit in early ’72. I’d guess that the old hospital was demolished in ’72 or ’73.

I wonder if that abandoned diner was in Williamsburg? For some reason, there’s that stretch on Kent or Wythe that has/had three old-looking diners like that: Diner, Relish (or La Esquina) and there used to be another called Miss Williamsburg around there, too. Not sure how old or new each place was, though.

The barbershop has a logo on the glass that appears to be that of the St Regis Hotel, so that would be my guess. And is that is right, then the scenes of Clemenza climbing the stairs and shooting Stracci look like they were also filmed in the St Regis.

the barbershop could be on the lower levels of the St Regis Hotel on E 55th street. that is the logo on the glass door. In addition a couple of other scenes where shot there. climbing the stairs and the guy shot in the revolving door I believe were also filmed at the St Regis

There ARE old photos of the Hotel St. George in Brooklyn Heights – you need to search a little harder on Google.

My father lived across the street in 36 Clark (in the late 40’s – early 50’s) until he married my mother and moved to Clinton Hill. They had their wedding reception down the block at the Towers Hotel (BTW, they are both buried in Calvary Cemetery 1 near the “Corleone family” – I know the space well). But the St. George was still thriving when I was a little kid and I remember often visiting the lobby and first floor spaces with the Art Deco styling. I think I was in the bar one time. Here is a link to someone selling vintage photos from the St. George http://www.etsy.com/listing/39731690/hotel-st-george-brooklyn-ny-antique – You may also want to contact the Brooklyn Historical Society and Brooklyn Heights Blog folks for more info. And, as you know, the St. George is now student housing: http://www.studenthousing.org/live/st-george-clark

Thanks for the post. Forgotten NY had done something about the Floyd Bennett Field vs Mitchell Field controversy, but thanks for the photo “proof.”

Most of the St. George is still there. A part of it burned down in 1995 in what was the biggest fire ever in NYC until 9/11. Aside from student housing, other parts of the complex were converted into apartments. When I lived in the Brooklyn Heights in the 1990s I went to a gym that was located in what had been the old salt water pool that my mother told me she frequented in the 50s.

Hi my name is Russell Figaredo and I am the president of ABC NYC LIMO/CONCIERGE. The barber scene where Willie Cicci gets a shave and where the mob Leader in the white Dinner Jacket, as well as where Clemenza shotgunned 2 guys in the elevator at the top of the staircase he climbs were all filmed at the St. regis Hotel,,E 55th street between Mad and 5th ave. Hence the STR ,logo you see in the window of the barber shop. Please keep in touch, I do this for my guided tours on NY as well and it’s great to meet a fellow “SCOUT”!!! http://www.abcnyclimo.com

“ichael takes off for Sicily (locations soon to be covered by sister site Scouting Italy) as a gang war breaks out in New York. Back in America, while leaving from a tryst with his goomah, Sonny is given the news that his brother-in-law Carlo is still beating his sister Connie. No clue where this building is – anyone recognize it? Note the distinctive pattern on the green brick. The storefront is for Lenny’s (can’t make out the surname), offering Printers Motor Repair & Maintenance.” This building is on Thompson Street betwwen Bleecker Street and Wst 3rd Street in Greenwich Village. It’s on the east side of the street and I believe it’s now a record shop.

Regarding the changes in the “backdrop” to the altar in the baptism scene:

The Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s made many changes in the way Catholic churches are arranged, and in particular in having the priest face the congregation during the mass, rather than facing the altar with his back to them as was done previously. More recent changes have included making baptism part of a regular Sunday service, rather than having it be a private ceremony in a separate chapel.

By the time The Godfather was filmed, all US churches would have made the change in the orientation of the altar, so the way it is set for the film was probably a special staging to reflect the way it would have looked in the 1940s. The baptismal font was probably still separate in the 1970s, but that tradition is no longer prevalent.

Great article. I watched the Godfather marathon on AE this weekend. First time I watched all three in their entirety in years. I can’t believe how much the Sopranos copied from the Godfather. I noticed so many little things. Never realized that the Sopranos was basically David Chase’s view of New Jersey and the modern, upper middle class family meets the Godfather. Still a great show but a sobering reminder that Mario Puzo’s story is the absolute foundation of this film and t.v. genre. They all copy the Godfather to some degree.

As always, fantastic Scout! All the more so as this has been my favorite movie since I was about 17. Perhaps the Part 2 NYC locations as a follow up? And once the LA and Italy posts are up, please let us know!

It always strikes me how the “now” shots, when they’re of a location that still exists, often look like shabby versions of “urban anywhere USA”. Louis Italian-American Restaurant looks like classic New York City, but the fabric store that is there now could be in LA. Even the stoop where Carlo is hanging out seems recognizably New York, but after the modern remodeling it could be anywhere. What kind of fool would replace those old cast iron railings with that bland brick and industrial pipe fencing?

Steven, I totally agree with you. Most of the ‘Now’ shots are miserable in their utter blandness. Just another reminder of what America has become. I guess you can blame OSHA, the ADA, unreal costs, loss of fabrication choices, loss of interest in quality, and decades upon decades of lawsuits for the views we see every day. Even the original railings of the Supreme Court Building – which were themselves added after initial construction finished – have been replaced with standard round pipe railings. Depressing.

This is why it’s so refreshing to visit foreign countries where people still have choices. I need to get out of here.

Well, guess what? I know where the barber shop is… I worked right across the street. It’s on East 55th Street… at the Hotel St. Regis. When you enter the hotel and go down the stairs (it’s below street level) to the barber shop. After his shave, Willie Cicci then goes up the stairs and locks the “hit” in the revolving door and shoots him.

A little off the original godfather topic,
Part 2 was filmed on my block in little Italy
On Elizabeth street ,they changed the whole block
From stores to actually putting a fake feast,some of the
Buisness in the neighborhood kept the new storefronts
Good times man

It’s interesting to see how much the sycamore tree in front of Clemenza’s house has grown in 40 years.

In the scene where Don Corleone is shot while buying oranges, the logo “Product of Israel” is supposedly visible on one of the cardboard orange boxes, more than two years before there actually was such a country. I’ve never spotted the logo myself, but enough people have reported it that I presume it’s not just an urban legend. This is actually a double blooper, as in 1945 oranges always were shipped in wooden crates, never cardboard boxes.

Note the big yellow Rheingold Beer truck in the background of the scene where Sonny attacks Carlo. Supposedly, the truck’s placement was deliberate, to block the view of something (not specified AFAIK) in the background that wouldn’t have fit the time frame.

If you look carefully at the glass door as Barzini exits the Supreme Court building, you can see the reflection of what’s now the Javits federal building, which would not exist for another decade.

One minor correction: the “access road” or “service road” at the old Mitchel AFB site was actually a taxiway. Of course the really puzzling thing about that scene is the magically self-healing windshield on Sonny’s car.

I was fortunate enough at the age of 15 to have had the opportunity to be an extra in The Godfather. I was at Connie’s wedding at the house on Staten Island and I actually appear for a few brief seconds in the film. I remember very well the location and the fake walls made of plywood covered in stone veneer. Thanks for the pictures of what it looks like today. Brings back memories I will always cherish.

When this film was shot, a friend of mine was doing his medical residency at New York Eye and Ear Hospital and I thought I remembered him telling me the interior hospital room scene was shot there one night. The St George fell on hard times, I think it was an abandoned bar even when Coppola shot there, it was a strip club for a while in the 1980s. You could still see the art deco etched glass even then that is visible in the scene in the film. I never heard of Mitchel being referred to as Mitchel Air Force Base, always referred to it as Mitchel Field. The toll booth was supposed to be the old tolls at the Loop Parkway that used to exist to enter the Meadowbrook. Great research on this film.

The bar in the St George was called Corio’s at the time of the filming of The Godfather. It’s name was changed to Club Wild Fyre a number of years later.
Strangely they borrowed that name from their pinball machine. By the way, it was a strip club as well as a bar.

the bar in the Saint George Hotel was a strip club in the early 1980’s. I worked there as a stripper and was fascinated by the art deco interior and long dance strip the length of the bar. It was a real blast from the past. I sat with the owner and remember him bragging to me about the bar used in the Godfather. The entire experience now seems like a dream, thanks for the memories!

i LOVE when you do these!!! being from New York presently living out of state they make me soooo homesick but also are so inspiring! I would love to go on a film location scavenger hunt, sadly though I live in Anchorage Alaska presently and not much to my knowledge has been filmed here. Threw you twenty bucks for your film, wish the best of luck to you sir and don’t stop what you’re doing!

Just called my friend who was doing his medical residency at New York Eye & Ear Infirmary on 14th St back in the early 1970s. He said they definitely filmed Brando’s hospital scene there and also the Genco deathbed scene which can only be seen in the trilogy film version.

My first communion party in 1964 was at Luigi’s – that s what it was called -restaurant in white Plains road. I remember it so clearly cause it was a special occasion restaurant for our family. I remember seeing it in the movie when it first came out. Loved that place!

When i was in 10th grade at evander hs on gun hill rd in the bronx in 1971 i went over after school and saw filming of god father
at lugis resturant on white plains rd at gunhill and shook al pacino hand during break of scene

Exterior of hospital is Bellevue, gate et et… Ramp for ambulance as well… Interior is either Eye and Ear or Lincoln Hosp. Tom Haden’s Diner is a tough one but physically it matches up perfectly inside and out with what is now called Diner in Williamsburg, back then there was an empty lot next to it that did indeed sell Christmas trees. The very same lot was used for a small grave yard for Once Apon A Time in America. The bathroom shot of Michael’s restaurant killing, I believe is also in Williansburg, an old bank on Broadway used for locations till this day. The same building was used extensively for Once Apon a Time. If you are a location guy you know this building, check the bathroom on the third floor for pistols…

I grew up in Nassau County and as young teenagers, we walked through that field area in the 80’s to get to Nassau Coliseum for concert ticket sales– we called it the Frozen Tundra in the winter. I never dreamed it was the location of one of my favorite scenes in the movie!

Also watch the marathon this weekend and I recall seeing a shootout scene that I believe is found in front of what we called the horseshoe bar or the crocodile Dundee bar or 7B it’s a bar on the corner of Avenue B and seven street sorry I wish I could remember the exact scene.

The scene where Michael meets Kay in Front of her school was filmed outside of the Ross Elementary School in Ross, CA (Marin County). They then go for a short walk which takes place on Shady Lane, around the corner from the school.

What an inspiring journey you took to find these locations in their current state of glory or deshabille. I work on how people use buildings from an architectural presepctive, and there just isn’t enough of this kind of then-and-now architectural history for non-iconic typical city buildings. Wonderful! Hope the donation makes a difference and you hit $30k soon!

The Hotel St. George is indeed still there- it is used for, among other things, student housing. I lived there for a year during my undergrad days. While I can’t say as to the bar where the scene was filmed, the exterior is remarkably preserved and looks exactly like the postcards. It can be found at the intersection of Clark and Henry streets off the A stop at High Street; or the 2,3 stop at Clark Street.

Funny, this is the 3rd reference to the Godfather I’ve heard in 2 days, and second one related to locations.

About 2 years ago I was working on some family research in Calvary cemetery in Queens and took some photos of a really cool mausoleum. I looked it up when I got home and found someone had written up info on it and its appearance in the Godfather.

The St. George Hotel was in a semi-decline by the early 70s. I was eight years old and lived in the neighborhood in 1970, and I remember going to day camp swimming lessons the hotel the summer between second and third grade. It was later turned into condos, and the building absolutely still stands.

Thank you for any other fantastic post. Where else could anybody get that kind of information in such a perfect way of writing?
I have a presentation subsequent week, and I am
on the look for such information.

A couple things about the Mitchel Field site for Sonny’s shooting: A radio tower is seen in the distance in some wide shots. It’s still there, used for a Catholic school television service. And two cranes were also seen in the distance of a few wide shots. They were used in building the Nassau Coliseum, which was finished in 1972.

An NYU film student, Mark Kitchell ,was granted full access to the shooting on E. 6th Street by Coppola, who even sat for a brief interview. PBS ran it on Oscar night in 2002; I was flipping back and forth between it and Denzel and Halle’s wins; Kitchell still makes documentary films, including ones on Berkeley’s radical politics and the environment. http://www.wnet.org/reelny/previous_seasons/reelnewyork6/aboutwork14.html

I really love your Scoutingny site, Thanks so much for all the work you’ve put into this.
I’m going up to NYC in a couple of days and it should really come in handy for some NYC film site pilgrimages that I’ll be making.

Another brilliant post, Nick! My favorite film, my favorite city – what more can I ask for?

thank you!

btw a close friend was a child living on E116th and Pleasant ave when the scenes were shot up there. He witnessed the shoot, saw Caan and the crew – also note that the Rheingold truck was used to block the FDR. The elevated walkway in the background was part of the old wire factory that ran parallel to the FDR. I believe it is now a mall of some kind.

I also read that the interior hospital scenes (where Michael and the nurse move Vito’s bed) were shot at the old New York Eye & Ear Infirmary on Second Avenue. The NYEE is a client of the company I work for and I’ve asked my contacts there about it but nobody seems able to confirm it.

Very enjoyable site on one of my all-time favorite films. One error in a scene description – the boardroom scene would have been the New York Central Railroad – the Penn Central, which included the New York Central, was created in 1968.

The Godfather was filmed in 1971, so it would have been Penn Central by then. Remember, it was filmed there but didn’t necessarily take place there. They never mention in the film where the board room is.

We just re-viewed Godfather I and II last week, so we especially appreciated this content.

While Godfather I was in production, I was working as Production Manager on the Mr. Rogers TV show in Pittsburgh. Many New York producers of TV shows and films were fans of our show, and I was invited by other production professionals to visit studios and locations in New York for two days.

As part of this visit, I was taken to the Godfather house site on Staten Island. The prior day they had completed principal shooting of the wedding. This day they were shooting additional scenes of family and friends at a long guest table in the yard. Assistant directors were running around with Polaroids from the previous day, making sure every detail was exactly the same as in the prior footage.

That afternoon I was taken to the Manhattan studio where interiors were shot. Most impressive was Vito’s study, which had been fabricated in the studio, rather than being in the actual house. Nearby was a wooden tollbooth that, unknown to me, would be where Sonny later meets his death.

Exterior views of the California mansion of movie boss Jack Woltz, of horse-head infamy, are of the former William Randolph Hearst estate in Beverly Hills, while the interior views were filmed at the Falaise estate on Long Island. Woltz gets very different treatment in the movie and in the original novel. In the movie he’s a stubborn executive but not otherwise a bad person, while in the novel it’s made very clear that he’s a pedophile.

The Sicily scenes couldn’t be filmed in the town of Corleone, as it was too modern-looking. Two nearby villages stood in for it.

Scout:
Outstanding work for your Godfather photos and historical research. Your untiring efforts made to investigate the facts behind each scene are certainly appreciated, especially those associated with Sonny’s demise at the tolls booths. Viewing each photo, combined with your subtitles, was similar to being taken back into the original film.

The Hotel St. George is now student housing. I lived there in 2005. A bunch of different schools have students living there, including Pratt and the Fashion Institute of Technology. It’s operated by a company called Educational Housing Services. Here’s the website:

Yes, the diner is on Rust St in Maspeth, Queens. They have a bunch of photos and signed memorabilia from the movie there. The Rust St area is a scouting goldmine. Be sure to check out the Widdard Dickard factory building.

I found the actual gravestone used in the film many years ago at Fasolino monuments nearby the Cemetery. They either sold or donated it to a school in Long Island City. My wife and I saw it in a lobby near some elevators there, but I haven’t visited there in years.
Also, I haven’t read all the posts, but supposedly, the barber shop “Moe Greene” scene was shot at the St. Regis Hotel. Hence the ST. R on the window outside the shop.

The stone wall at the NY Godfather house was a prop made of stucco and cardboard. I saw a piece a few years ago about the guy who sold the house. He said part of it was still up in the side yard. FactsFromTexas. Cheers, Stockbauer

The barber shop scene, Michael’s dinner with Kay, Clemenza shooting into the elevator, Willy Cici shooting the boss through the revolving door were all filmed at the St. Regis Hotel on E55th St. and 5th Ave. In fact, in the capture above of the barber shop, you can see the St. Regis’ initials on the window.

According to “The Godfather Journal,” a day-to-day account of the filming of THE GODFATHER by Ira Zuckerman, the toll booth scene was indeed shot at Nassau Community College. The billboard was strategically placed to hide the modern high rise (evidently the one we see in your photo).

However, only the Don leaving the hospital by ambulance was shot at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, the exterior of Michael standing outside with Enzo the baker was shot at Bellevue Hospital, the 29th St. entrance (with close-ups filmed on the Paramount lot in Hollywood). The29th St. side Bellevue entrance has been closed off since 2001, but an identical entrance is on the 30th St. side of the building and matches the entrance in the film perfectly. The interior hospital scenes were shot at the Eye and Ear Hospital on 13th Street and 2nd Ave. That location is also comparable in appearance as it was in March, 1971 when they shot the scene.

The Edison Hotel did indeed have those exact fish etched on the thick glass door connecting the elevator bay area of the lobby to the bar. Can’t vouch for the inside, though. Maybe they showed Brasi entering the bar from the Edison lobby and duplicated the glass door for continuity if and when they changed locations.

boy does this back memories,firsr of all I lived on staten island while there filmed there,carlo was a friend of family.also I was driving a bus on ave b while they filmed there.when they had the shooting with the guy running out on ave b I had to wait with my bus on ave b and 4th till they finished.yes they really changed the looks of everything there.there will never be any pictures like that again.back in the 50s we use to go to the st George hotel on a certain night when was strickly men only[no bathing suits].I believe there are plenty of people that remember that.i miss there ave b bus line that when under around 1980,i had to retire due to sickness and moved to st pete fl.

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The 55th Street entrance to the Wellington Hotel looks very much like the location where one of the heads of a family gets locked in the revolving door and killed during the baptism assassination sequence. I have no proof that this is the location. It is just a hunch coming from me staying there on my only trip to NYC and as I went out that door knew that I had seen it before. Then watching the movie again later this year convinced myself that was why it was familiar. I am curious if any NY’ers could look closer and see what you think.

See my comment below. I’d guess the St Regis, because that’s where he gets his shave (SR monogram on door), then runs up the stairs to shoot the guy. Perhaps they filmed in two different locations, but I’ll go to the St Regis tomorrow to investigate! There are two signs visible by the revolving doors: Florist (from Cicci’s perspective), and Maisonette (from the victim’s perspective).

I stayed at the Wellington in January and have just watched the Godfather again. As soon as I saw the assassination in the revolving door I was certain it was the Wellington. I showed my wife and she agrees. The “florist” sign is now for a cafe and a door through to it and the “maisonettes” sign is for a gift shop. I’m certain its that side door to the Wellington

Old man Tattaglia was perhaps hit in Coney Island somewhere; you can see the beach and boardwalk outside the window as the hit men prepare. It seems like he was in bed with one of his hookers at a beach-side hotel. The barber shop where Cicci is getting a shave is definitely at the St Regis: you can clearly see an SR monogram on the front door. The revolving doors, I’d guess, are also at the St Regis.

What a surprise to see Lincoln Hospital in your pictures. I was born there in 1949. Loved your website. What an amazing collection of pictures. The time and effort you put into this is amazing. Well done.

1) A spraying fire hydrant is not in need of repair. These guys wedged a wooden box it seems to make it spray; in the late 60s/early 70s an adult from the neighborhood would go down to the fire station and get a special sprinkler cap for the “Johnny pump,” resulting in exactly what is seen in the movie. Good times
2) The silver diner looks like the one (not in use?) on Northern Blvd in Long Island City, Queens right by Best Buy, around 50th St.

Never forget that the radio playing at the tollbooth is Russ Hodges’ calling Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World.” Listen closely to it…Clint Hartung is down at third when the toll booth clerk closes the window.

Can’t help you on photos of the St. George’s Hotel, but it played an important role in my family’s history: my parents were married there on Columbus Day in 1957.

It was a strange event: British Jews (my mother’s family) meeting American Jews (my father’s family). The British were civil servants and military, the Americans were small retailers. The Americans emerged baffled by the British “reserve,” casual talk of “military matters,” talk about the Spurs and the Ashes, and loyalty to the Crown. The Britons were puzzled by the Americans golfing down the chopped liver, talking loudly in Yiddish, being obsessed with keeping their struggling businesses afloat, and greatly annoyed that the Yankees had done badly in the World Series and that the Giants and Dodgers were leaving town…whoever they were.

That set the tone for a marriage that lasted 37 years…Dad summed it up best with a cartoon he drew (he was a brilliant cartoonist) in which he comes home, and Mom says, “As I was cooking the hamburgers, I pondered the meaning of life. I couldn’t get an answer.” Dad replies, “Have you tried chicken?”

My grandfather hired day laborers for the New York Central Railroad out of a Little Italy location just around the time young Vito Corleone was establishng himself in the neighborhood. Scriptwise that is….From time to time young Frank,in realtime and records may indicate or at least the Puzzo family lore leads me to believe, he actually would hire Mario Puzzo’s father to go out on the line and work with hundreds of others breaking the ballast along the rail line to prevent flooding on or aliong it.
Frank Speno steeled himself from the Black Hand. He had an armed driver named Luigi and 2 doberman’s. As well, his assiciation with uptown Railway scions and other industrialists provided a formidable barrier to infiltration by the mob or Cosa Nostra. Not bad for an immigrant who started out at 13 carrying water along the tracks.
Francis went on to forming an International Railway service. But I can’t help it, everytime I see those sequences from Godfather II, Robert DInero walikng the steets, deiivering groceries from his job, during San Genero.. That somewhere, during that time there really was a young Frank Speno walikng those same streets. At that same festival.. Alllowing me, in a cinematically suspended disbelief, a glimpse of my Grandfather.. wending his way to his office. Living his life via a movie. A trip in the way back machine to a well crafted world of then. It does make it real for me. So thanks for the detail Mr. Coppola..

Regarding the murder scene of Brasi in the lobby bar of the Hotel St. George: yes, it was indeed filmed there. The place was pretty run down post-filming and by 1978 had become a truly seedy strip club. But it still had a horseshoe-shaped bar, checkerboard floor tiles still present, and there were were lots of art deco elements throughout — gilded Japanese goldfish etched in glass were a repeating theme.

Here’s the thing: the last time I visited Brooklyn Heights, a few years ago, the entrance to this bar – including the Art Deco goldfish – were still visible from inside the Clark Street subway station. The glass doors were largely boarded up and padlocked, and could be seen only from several yards away. But if they’re still there today, look directly to your left as you enter through the subway station turnstiles — you may still glimpse the doors. What’s behind them … I’ve always wondered.